Google has started rolling out the first developer preview of Android Q to developers. the new update will bring some interesting changes, like better privacy controls and native support for foldable phones. Here's How to install and Top Features of Android Q.

The first beta of Android Q is available now for any Pixel device, including the first-gen Pixel and Pixel XL — Google says it extended support to those models due to popular demand.

Top Features

Privacy protections

With Android Q, the OS gives users even more control over apps, controlling access to shared files. Users will be able to control apps' access to the Photos and Videos or the Audio collections via new runtime permissions. For Downloads, apps must use the system file picker, which allows the user to decide which Download files the app can access. For developers, there are changes to how your apps can use shared areas on external storage. Make sure to read the Scoped Storage changes for details.

Android Q will prevent apps from launching an Activity while in the background. If your app is in the background and needs to get the user's attention quickly -- such as for incoming calls or alarms -- you can use a high-priority notification and provide a full-screen intent. See the documentation for more information.

limiting access to non-resettable device identifiers, including device IMEI, serial number, and similar identifiers. Read the best practices to help you choose the right identifiers for your use case, and see the details here. We're also randomizing the device's MAC address when connected to different Wi-Fi networks by default -- a setting that was optional in Android 9 Pie.

Control over location

With Android Q, the OS helps users have more control over when apps can get location. As in prior versions of the OS, apps can only get location once the app has asked you for permission, and you have granted it.

One thing that's particularly sensitive is apps' access to location while the app is not in use (in the background). Android Q enables users to give apps permission to see their location never, only when the app is in use (running), or all the time (when in the background).For example, an app asking for a user's location for food delivery makes sense and the user may want to grant it the ability to do that. But since the app may not need location outside of when it's currently in use, the user may not want to grant that access. Android Q now offers this greater level of control.

Foldables Phones

Foldable devices have opened up some innovative experiences and use-cases. Google has made number of improvements in Android Q, including changes to onResume and onPause to support multi-resume and notify your app when it has focus. resizeableActivity manifest attribute works, to help you manage how your app is displayed on foldable and large screens.

Sharing shortcuts

When a user wants to share content like a photo with someone in another app, the process should be fast. In Android Q It will be quicker and easier with Sharing Shortcuts, which let users jump directly into another app to share content. The Sharing Shortcuts mechanism is similar to how App Shortcuts works, new API is also supported in the new ShareTarget AndroidX library. This allows apps to use the new functionality while allowing pre-Q devices to work using Direct Share.

Settings Panels

You can now also show key system settings directly in the context of your app, through a new Settings Panel API, A settings panel is a floating UI that you invoke from your app to show system settings that users might need, such as internet connectivity, NFC, and audio volume. For example, a browser could display a panel with connectivity settings like Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi (including nearby networks), and Mobile Data. There's no need to leave the app; users can manage settings as needed from the panel. To display a settings panel, just fire an intent with one of the new Settings.Panel actions.

Dynamic depth format for photos

Many cameras on mobile devices can simulate narrow depth of field by blurring the foreground or background relative to the subject. They capture depth metadata for various points in the image and apply a static blur to the image, after which they discard the depth metadata.

Starting in Android Q, apps can request a Dynamic Depth image which consists of a JPEG, XMP metadata related to depth related elements, and a depth and confidence map embedded in the same file on devices that advertise support. Requesting a JPEG + Dynamic Depth image makes it possible for you to offer specialized blurs and bokeh options in your app. You can even use the data to create 3D images or support AR photography use-cases in the future.

How to get Android Q Beta?

you can enroll here to get Android Q Beta updates over-the-air, on any Pixel device ( Pixel 3, Pixel 2, and original Pixel). Downloadable system images for those devices are also available. If you don't have a Pixel device, you can use the Android Emulator, and download the latest emulator system images via the SDK Manager in Android Studio.

After Android Pie Now Google is working on Android Q company's next Operating System. Android Q will be announced at Google I/O 2019 Now Android Q build has been leaked

System-wide Dark Theme

To enable the dark theme, you just have to tap on the “Set Dark mode” option in Display settings. You can set the dark theme to always be enabled or automatically be enabled depending on the time of day. Once enabled, the Settings, Launcher, Launcher settings, and Files app all gain a dark gray tinge. The volume panel, Quick Settings panel, and notifications all turn black. Even third-party notifications like download notifications from Google Chrome are themed black. The Google Phone app, Google Contacts, Messages, Google News, Google Play Games, YouTube, and more already have native dark themes, but we don’t know how these Google apps will interact with Android Q’s dark theme toggle.

Permissions Revamp

with Android Q there is huge permission revamp in the Settings app that allows you to get an overview of permission access by apps and restrict certain permissions like location only while the app is in use. The permission page for each app is also revamped, and you can quickly see which apps have been allowed or denied access to a certain permission (like the microphone.) The app info screen has also been revamped, giving you quick access to open the app, uninstall the app, or force stop the app.

Desktop Mode

New Developer Option called “force desktop mode.” Its description reads “force experimental desktop mode on secondary displays.” This sounds to me like it’s going to be a Samsung DeX or EMUI Easy Projection-type feature, but I wasn’t able to actually test it since nothing happened when I plugged in my USB Type-C to HDMI adapter. Also, for some reason, I was unable to connect to Wi-Fi so I couldn’t test whether this experimental desktop mode works via the cast option.

Developer Options
There’s a ton of new Developer Options in Android Q. Game Update Package Preferences” which asks you to select a graphics driver. I don’t have enough information about what this does yet, but once I do I’ll post an update. There are a lot of new feature flags, only some of which actually work. One of them enables a shortcut to a built-in screen recorder provided by the SystemUI.

This screen recorder can be accessed by long-pressing on the screenshot button in the power menu, but the UI is currently unfinished. (The power menu also has a new shortcut to launch the emergency dialer.) Another feature flag allows for the current wallpaper to be shown on the Always on Display. This is a feature on the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, but it’s now being made available in AOSP for any device with an Always on Display feature to take advantage of .Setting has been moved to Display –> Lock screen display. The battery icon in the Always on Display also seems to have shifted from the center of the screen to the top-right.

Accessibility
Two new settings have been added to the Accessibility page: Time to take action and Time to read. The time to take action lets you choose “how long to show messages that ask you to take action, but are only visible temporarily.” On the other hand, the time to read feature lets you choose “how much time you want to read and take action on messages that automatically go away.” The latter seems related to the heads-up notifications introduced with Android 5.0 Lollipop while the former may refer to snackbars. The images shown in the feature description are clearly just placeholders.

New sensors off” Quick Settings tile that seems to disable all radios and turn on airplane mode. It might be set up to do more in the future, but that’s what I’ve found so far. It’s possible that this will be a tin foil hat mode to disable all sensors on the device that can’t normally be turned off

The screen lock setting has two new options: “SmartLock only extends unlock” and “Lock screen when trust is lost.” The former lets a trusted device keep your smartphone awake for longer, but doesn’t allow it to unlock the device once it has been locked. The latter option will lock the smartphone when the last trusted device is no longer trusted.